Introduction – Will this be an Architected Enterprise?
bernard-3rdWill this be an Architected Organization?
Basically, I am asking whether an enterprise (often an organization or part of an organization) is going to be structured based on an over-arching agile design and set of standards for how work is done and technology employed – or is the enterprise going to consist of a collection of un-coordinated processes, programs, and systems? If the organization decides to develop and maintain an authoritative enterprise-wide architecture to serve as a primary reference for planning and decision-making, then leadership and management must embrace and implement this decision by properly resourcing the EA function and seeing that it is incorporated into all aspects of how the organization is run… called “baking it in.”
A similar question is faced when an enterprise considers making a major, holistic commitment to a quality assurance (QA) approach that will be consistently applied throughout all lines of business. To date, many enterprises have decided to do this only to find that their effort fails when leadership does not continually back it, especially if that enterprise is not used to standard processes and metrics. We saw how beginning in the 1980’s QA made a tremendous difference in the competitiveness of major automotive industry players – with Japanese manufacturers being the first to take the QA plunge. Now, QA is baked into the culture of auto manufacturers around the world – and the products of the surviving companies are much better as a result. Some companies could not adapt to higher quality standards, and are no longer in business or lost major market shares. It should therefore be no surprise that many of these surviving companies began embracing EA during the past decade along the same path that their QA initiatives were implemented. Other industry sectors are doing this too – insurance, retail, and aerospace to name a few. For some governments, including the U.S. Federal Government, it is a legal mandate that agencies develop and maintain a holistic EA.
The existence of an organization chart, documentation on processes and resources, or employees who hold architect titles do not necessarily mean that the enterprise is “architected.” The litmus test for this is similar to the key question for QA adoption – does the enterprise consider the architecture to be an authoritative reference and are the associated methods baked into how things are done every day… in other words, is EA part of the culture? If not, then there is a paper architecture that may provide one time or occasional value – but not a living architecture culture that contributes to high levels of agility and performance on an ongoing basis across all lines of business, business units, and program offices.
Let’s say that an enterprise decides to not have an EA, for whatever reason. The main problems that I see are that leadership will not have the ability to generate clear, consistent views of the overall enterprise on an ongoing basis, they won’t be able to effectively compare business units, and the locus of power for planning and decision-making will be at the line-of-business, program, and/or system owner levels – with significant differences in how things are done and high potential for overlapping or duplicative functions and resources… waste and duplication.
Now let’s say that an enterprise decides to have an EA, and is prepared to maintain leadership backing and put resources behind it. This would allow the enterprise to avoid the problems just described and create a culture of ongoing controlled adaptation and optimization in response to changes in external and internal drivers. This sounds to me like a more of a recipe for success, especially in highly dynamic operating environments – but to take the test for your own enterprise – go ahead and ask “what would happen if we did not become an architected organization” and play out the costs and benefits, then ask “what if we do go with EA” and try to identify the cost, benefits, risks, and mitigation strategies.
On significant benefit for large private sector companies that decide to be an architected enterprise is that EA can play a key role in evaluating merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities, whether that company is acquiring or being acquired. In that EA helps to rationalize and align strategic, business, and technology plans – and associated processes and resources – the architecture can clarify the capabilities, assets, and value of that company – potentially adding tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to the valuation and reducing risk in the post- merger/acquisition period as the resulting company makes dozens or hundreds of decisions about what business capabilities, systems, and groups should go forward, and which should be eliminated. A historical stumbling block to M&A efforts is a lack of understanding of the culture and capabilities of the companies being brought together – and EA can help with this throughout the M&A lifecycle – from initial due diligence research, to valuation negotiations, to post merger/acquisition streamlining and new product/service rollouts.
This book is for enterprises that decide to take the plunge and embrace EA – I think they will find that it is a source of competitive advantage.